Locally-produced drugs accounted for over half of total medicine revenue in 2008 and Vietnamese people paid US$16.45 for medicine on average, the Vietnam Drug Administration said on June 23.

Deputy Health Minister Cao Minh Quang said at an online meeting of the pharmaceutical sector on June 23 that two drug distribution centres will be built in Hanoi and HCM City to stabilise the pharmaceutical market.

Meanwhile, the Vietnam Drug Administration’s chief Truong Quoc Cuong said that the deadline for the application of Good Pharmacy Practices (GPP) standards for drugstores passed six months ago but only 140 of 437 drugstores in hospitals meet GPP standards.

The Hanoi Pharmaceutical University’s rector Le Viet Hung said that according to statistics in 2008, for every 10,000 people there were 1.5 pharmacists, while the goal is three pharmacists per 10,000 residents. “Vietnam will achieve this target in 2015,” Hung said.

A Health Ministry report revealed that last year Vietnam spent nearly $1 billion to import drugs, 13.85 percent higher than in 2007, including $759.75 million for finished products. At the same time, the country earned $33.32 million from exporting medicines, 17.1 percent less than the annual target.